"Cleo?!" Don exclaims once again, slightly more quietly this time as the shock and horror truly begin to set in. He stares down at his daughter — well, at least at a creature that looks only half like his daughter — and doesn't know what to even say. Is this some sort of creepy joke that Cleo is playing on him? When would she have even bought this sort of get up, and why? No, it can't be, those scales and the fins look too real for the tail to just be a slip-on costume. As a fisherman, Don has seen a lot of different species of fish in his time, but he hasn't seen anything like this. At the same time though, it is clear to Don that this isn't just some pretty costume, nor has he seen Cleo more terrified than she looks right now.
Suddenly, Don flashes back to a couple of years ago when Zane had been going around town swearing on his life that a mermaid had pulled him from the sunken boat. At the time, Don just put it down to being without oxygen for several minutes and Zane must have been hallucinating things. Don figured Zane eventually realised that too, considering the kid suddenly stopped mentioning the mermaid one day from out of nowhere, acting as if nothing ever happened. Now though however, it looks as if Zane had been right about the creature all along. But how the hell could his own daughter be one of them?! Is this creature even Cleo at all?
"I-I can explain," Cleo stutters shakily while continuing to stare up at Don fearfully. She also grabs a blanket off her bed and lays it over her tail the best that she can, although Don thinks it is a little late for that. He has already seen it, so why even bother try to cover it up? Perhaps she is ashamed, or is scared about what he would think? To be honest, Don doesn't exactly know how he feels right now; this new… development has completely turned his world upside down. Everything he thought he knew about the world, about his own daughter, has all been a lie. He wishes that this was just some nightmare that he would wake up from at any moment, but the fisherman knows that he probably won't get so lucky.
"How can you possibly explain this?! You're a... you have a…" Don's voice trailing off, his eyes glancing down and focusing on the golden coppery fins that Cleo hadn't been able to cover with the blanket.
"I know it's a lot to process. It took me weeks to even become comfortable with this." Cleo stammers nervously while her eyes dart around the room, trying to find any sort of escape.
"Weeks? So, this… this thing isn't new?!" Don exclaims, feeling even more shocked and now slightly angry. How long has his daughter been keeping whatever the hell this is from him?
"It's a long story," Cleo hurriedly replies, her eyes glancing over towards her bedroom door fearfully.
"Well, I've got all the time in the world to listen right now, young lady! When did this happen? How did this happen? Can you change back? Does anyone else know about this?" Don rambles exasperatedly, shaking his head in disbelief, the golden orange fish tail somehow connected to his daughter is seemingly etched permanently into his mind.
"Can you close the door first, Dad? I don't want Kim to find out about this. You know what she's like; she would tell everyone and anyone that I'm a mermaid just so she can make my life hell, but also not understanding the consequences of her actions." Cleo pleads desperately as she glances back up at Don, the complete fear in her eyes causing Don's heart to ache and his breathing to calm down slightly. He realises this situation must be just as hard for Cleo as it is for him, neither one of them really knowing how to react. Even though he wants to believe otherwise, Don fears that Cleo is right about Kim. The two sisters rarely ever get along, and Kim does seem to get a thrill out of making Cleo's life all the more difficult. There's no telling how she'll react to Cleo having a tail, or who she will want to tell. Don isn't even sure how he is going to react and fully process this. It'll be better to deal with Kim once Don has a handle on the situation first.
"Y-yeah, okay..." Don mumbles as he turns around and closes Cleo's bedroom door once more. He pauses for a moment and takes a deep breath before turning back to face Cleo, who is still lying on the floor with her blanket only half hiding the strange fish tail that is taking the place of where her legs should be. He slowly makes his way over to Cleo's desk chair and sits down. A part of him feels extremely light headed, as if he might faint, so a chair is probably one of the safest places that Don could be right now.
"Dad! Cleo! What's going on?!" Kim's voice yells out from downstairs, somewhat pulling Don out of his dizzying state for a moment.
"We're fine, Kim! It's nothing. I just need a moment to talk with Cleo!" Don yells back, hoping that Kim doesn't decide to come up stairs to investigate why there's such a ruckus. Even though the bedroom door is locked, Don suspects that Kim would still find a way to become involved in all of this somehow.
"It didn't sound like nothing!" Kim replies, sounding closer now, and Don can hear the faint sound of footsteps on the stairs.
"Go away, Kim! It's none of your business!" Cleo exclaims angrily, glaring at the door with an annoyed frown. The sounds of Kim's footsteps are getting closer and closer towards Cleo's bedroom.
"Why not? Why are you so secretive all the time? Why do you always run away from things randomly?" Kim whines in annoyance, the sound of her voice coming from right outside the bedroom door now.
"That's enough, Kim. Go and do your chores, please. The dishes better be starting to get washed and put away by the time I come down." Don announces sternly.
"It's not fair, Dad! Why does Cleo never get to do the dishes, or any chores for that matter? Why does she get away with anything?" Kim complains
"Shut up! You have no idea what you're talking about!" Cleo growls in response to her sister, while Don rolls his eyes in annoyance. Even amongst all of this chaos, his two daughters still find ways to argue.
"Just do as you're told, please. We can figure out the chores situation later." Don sighs in a defeated tone, pinching the bridge of his nose as the forming headache in the back of his head continues to worsen, likely from all the stress and tiredness.
"Ugh. Whatever." Kim responds bitterly. The sound of footsteps walking away from Cleo's bedroom door then can be heard while Kim continues to grumbles in annoyance about the unfairness of it all, leaving Don and Cleo alone once again.
An intense silence falls over the father and daughter; Cleo awkwardly starts to attempt to dry herself off with the blanket and decides that staring at the floor is the most interesting thing in the world right at this moment.
"So, uh. You're a mermaid? Like the creature that Zane thought he saw when he was drowning?" Don clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck in confusion, a small headache beginning to form in the back of his head from this bizarre new development and the complete emotional overload.
"I guess you could say that, yeah. I don't have a better word for it myself," Cleo sighs as she continues to scrub the blanket up and down her arms in an attempt to dry off as fast as possible.
"Are you really my daughter? Or just something that looks like her?" Don asks suddenly, narrowing his eyes down at the creature still lying on the floor, drying itself off. As soon as the question comes out of his mouth, Don regrets his words, especially as he watches the clear hurt and shock appear on Cleo's face. But still, the question had to be asked, Don supposes. There's no way that Cleo could actually be a mermaid… is there?
"Of course I am, Dad! How could you say something like that? I know that this is a lot to take in, but I'm still the same girl that I've always been, and I'm still your daughter. But this is why I was afraid to tell you, to tell anyone. You think that I'm some sort of monster, don't you?" Cleo responds, her voice shaking slightly and tears begin to form in her eyes.
"N-no, that's not what I meant. Of course you're not a monster! I just…" Don trails off, struggling to find the right words to say, feeling like a fish out of water. Don silently curses himself for thinking about a terrible fish pun whilst in the middle of this crazy situation.
"You just what?" Cleo inquires defensively, glaring up at Don while she continues to dry herself off.
"I can't believe that this is happening, that's all. Mermaids don't exist. But here you are, tail and all. I've never seen you like this before, and I don't understand how this could have happened?" Don continues after a small pause, his headache continuing to grow. The fisherman sighs and runs a hand over his face, still silently hoping that this is just some whacky dream he is having.
"So, Zane was telling the truth about mermaids after all? Why did he suddenly stop investigating it? Are there other mermaids out there?" Don wonders out loud, his mind whirling with thousands of possibilities.
"Yes, there are others. I wasn't the one that saved him from the boat wreck." Cleo replies, sounding a little hesitant about revealing that small bit of information, which naturally makes Don want to press the issue further, but right now, there are much more important answers that Don needs.
"But… how is any of this possible in the first place?" Don frowns at the impossibility of the situation, but Cleo is living proof that this situation is not as impossible as Don had once thought.
"Well, it all started when Emma, Rikki and I went to Mako Island two years ago, when we kind of stole Zane's zodiac," Cleo begins to explain, still refusing to look at Don, and she almost seems to be cowering away from him, clearly afraid of what his reaction is going to be.
"That long ago?!" Don exclaims in disbelief, the memory of that night flashing through his mind. Picking his then 15-year-old daughter up from the police station at three in the morning and learning that she and her friends had taken Zane Bennet's boat was one of the most confusing and frustrating nights for Don, as Cleo had never done anything so reckless before. When they made it back home, Cleo didn't say much to anyone in the family about what happened. She just sat on the couch and hung her head in shame while Don had lectured her about how much trouble she was in. Looking back on that night now, Don realises that Cleo had been very shaken up, but at the time he just assumed it was just guilt about getting caught. Obviously, there was more going on that night than Don thought there was, which is saying something.
"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you at the time, but-" Cleo suddenly gets cut off by her whole body turning into bubbling and sparkling water, causing Don to yell in fright, jumping backwards in fear. Just as quickly as Cleo had turned to water, she transforms back to normal in the blink of an eye. She is back in her clothes that she had been wearing previously and is completely dry. Not to mention that the tail is now gone, as if it had never been there in the first place. Don stares at his daughter in shock, feeling too lost for words.
"I only become a mermaid when I touch water, but once I'm dry, I turn back to normal." Cleo quickly explains as she gets up from her bedroom floor and goes to sit on her bed directly across from Don while he is still frozen and wide eyed in the desk chair.
"Anyway, as I was saying, I was scared to tell you back when this first happened. I mean, what was I even supposed to say? 'Hi Dad, just letting you know I'm some sort of fish freak now'? You would have been horrified if I told you back then, just like you're horrified about it now. The difference is that at least I have accepted being a mermaid now, because it definitely wasn't easy for me at first." Cleo continues talking while her hands fiddle with the sleeves of her jacket as a small way to distract herself from the conversation at hand.
"So, the alternative was to never tell me, about any of it? I'm your father, Cleo! I need to know these things! I want to help you! I want to fix this!" Don exclaims, some of his shock and fear turning into anger and hurt for Cleo not telling him about this mermaid thing earlier. What's even worse is that she likely was never intending on telling him at all.
"You can't help me, Dad! You can't just 'fix' this; it's not that simple. What would you propose we do to fix this anyway? There's not exactly a book on how to stop being a mermaid. Besides, I like my new lifestyle. Yes, it's difficult, but I have learnt to deal with it." Cleo says exasperatedly, finally lifting her gaze to meet Don's.
"But… why would you want to go through this alone? If you grow a tail every time you touch water, how is it possible that no one knows the truth? You work at the marine park!" Don frowns, unable to imagine how difficult it must be for Cleo to keep her secret from the world.
"Well, I'm not going through this alone," Cleo admits quietly after a few seconds of hesitation, once again looking down at her hands.
"Wait, what? Who else knows about this?" Don asks, his eyebrows raising in surprise.
"Emma, Rikki, Zane, Ash, Lewis and Lenny." Cleo replies.
"Lenny? As in, Lewis' brother?" Don queries in confusion. He isn't totally surprised that Emma, Rikki, Zane, Ash and Lewis all knew about Cleo being a mermaid, they all hang out together quite often, after all. It also explains why on several occasions Cleo and her friends had been acting extremely odd. However, Don is puzzled about Lenny being in on the secret. As far as he knew, Cleo and Lenny weren't that close, and why would they be? Somehow, Don suspects that there is more to the story than Cleo has let on so far.
"Yes. I only told him recently, but yeah, Lenny knows about me." Cleo sighs, still staring down at her hands that are pressed together in her lap.
"Why the hell would you tell one of Lewis' brothers, but not me?" Don asks, with hurt and confusion underlying his tone.
"Because… because I'm not the only one with a tail," Cleo answers in a shaky breath, still fiddling with her jacket's sleeves and her gaze trained on the rug on her bedroom floor.
"Are Rikki and Emma mermaids too?" Don asks curiously, all of the pieces of the puzzle finally coming together in his head. Come to think of it, Cleo had never even mentioned Rikki before the zodiac incident, and Emma had quit the swim team only a couple of weeks after said incident. Whatever happened to Cleo on that island must have affected Emma and Rikki too, Don assumes. He had always found Mako Island strange, and now he knows why.
"Yes." Cleo sighs quietly, her hands finally stopping fidgeting with the sleeves of her jacket.
"But that still doesn't explain why you would want to tell Lenny all of this. Why is he somehow involved in this?" Don comments incredulously, still not completely happy with Cleo's explanation.
"I was getting to that part," Cleo responds, suddenly sounding exhausted.
"It turns out that there aren't just mermaids out there…" Cleo continues hesitantly, which only increases Don's concern and suspicion.
"Okay? What about it? What else is out there?"
"Recently, Lewis went on a trip to Mako Island by himself, to do some research. To try and figure out why Emma, Rikki and I are the way we are. In hindsight, it was a terrible idea. His hand accidentally touched the water of the moon pool-"
"What the hell is a moon pool?!"
"That's not important right now! I'll get to those details later. Anyway, as I was saying, Lewis made contact with this water. And as it so happens, the moon pool water affected Lewis in a similar way to how it affected the rest of us. He, er… is a merman now. Only difference between mermaids and mermen are the different coloured tails; Lewis' is a deep blue while mine, Emma and Rikki's are golden orange, as you just saw on me." The silence that follows Cleo's answer is deafening as Don tries to process yet again more new information. The fisherman rubs a hand over his in exasperation, vaguely surprised he hasn't fainted yet. He hears his daughter awkwardly clear her throat and breaks the silence, because both Don and Cleo know that Don certainly isn't about to do it.
"So, uh, Lenny was getting suspicious of why Lewis had been acting so strange lately, and then he was starting to pester me about the secrecy and Lewis' disappearance, so I had to tell him. Despite all evidence saying otherwise, Lenny firmly believed that Lewis was still alive. It was only a matter of time before Lenny would have found out the truth about us anyway." Cleo explains, still looking down at the floor, refusing to meet her dad's gaze.
"How does this relate to Lewis' disappearance in any way? Are you saying he swam away to live in the ocean permanently or something?" Don frowns suspiciously.
"What- no, of course not! Can you just let me explain, please?" Cleo exclaims, rolling her eyes in frustration.
"Sorry. Please continue," Don apologises, feeling a little sheepish. His daughter then goes on to explain everything that she can, from the first time she transformed into a mermaid, to the crazy full moon experiences, and right up until Lewis' supposed 'death'. Don listens intently, amazed and shocked about how Cleo and her friends have managed to keep this a secret for so long. As she continues explaining, Don understands more and more why Cleo hadn't told him the truth before, especially while Denman was in town. The more that Don hears about this marine biologist and her determination to get what she wants – even willing to go as far as attempt to kidnap teenagers, which she now has successfully managed to kidnap one – the more he realises how dangerous everything is for his daughter.
Unfortunately, there naturally would be hundreds of scientists and others out there ready to profit off people like Cleo and her friends. This fact isn't surprising to the fisherman, but it still horrifies him. His daughter could very well have ended up in some tiny display tank for people to gawk at, or end up as someone's science experiment. And, from what Cleo has told him, it sounds like this is exactly what happened Lewis. A swarm of emotions bubble up inside of Don, just about ready to explode. His heart breaks for Cleo of course, it's awful that she has to be dealing with worrying about her own safety while also grieving the loss of her boyfriend. She's just a kid, and she shouldn't have to be fearing for her life. Additionally, Lewis has started to grow on Don over time; the fisherman knows that Lewis has been good for Cleo, especially with what he knows now about Lewis having helped Cleo keep her secret for so long. It pains Don to realise that Lewis could still be alive somewhere, kept prisoner by this deranged scientist that Lewis had once looked up to.
Once Cleo has finished telling her story, the room goes silent for several minutes, the air practically buzzing with tension between the father and daughter. All of the pieces of the puzzle finally start to fit together in Don's head. All of Cleo's strange behaviour over the past few years finally makes sense. He understands why her friends mean so much to her now, why she spends so much time with them. The mysterious shenanigans with random water spurts from taps and water bottles scattered around the house have now been solved. Cleo's discomfort and tension with the police is completely reasonable when looking back at it now. Even with these things in mind, ultimately, the final picture isn't what he wanted to see, not even close. Don's entire view of the world has changed. If merpeople exist, what other mythical beings are out there? What other sorts of magic exist in the world that they aren't aware of? Then of course, there's the more human threat to worry about, too. There will always be crazy scientists like Linda Denman in the world, that will do whatever it takes to figure out the magic, no matter what the cost.
"…Dad? Are you okay? Can you say something?" Cleo finally speaks up once more, her voice cutting through the silence like a knife, snapping Don out of his thoughts.
"I-I don't know what to say…" Don shakes his head slightly, still in disbelief about what is happening.
"Just try." Cleo pleads, glancing towards Don with the sad puppy eyes that he used to see a lot of when Cleo was really young and getting into trouble.
"Well, I guess I'm sad that you couldn't tell me about this sooner, but I understand why you didn't. I won't lie though, this… news, it is going to take me some time to fully come to terms with and accept," Don says hesitantly.
"Yeah, I totally get that. This whole thing is insane, I know. I wouldn't blame you for ever getting used to it." Cleo replies with a half-hearted smile, though she looks like she is about to cry. Don suspects that she is overwhelmed after having to relive the past few months that lead up to Lewis' disappearance, or maybe even the fear of when she first became a mermaid. Don stands up from the chair and walks over towards the bed, sitting down next to his oldest daughter.
"Cleo, I just want you to know that I'll always love you, and nothing will ever change that. Yes, it'll take me some time to come to terms with the fact that you're," Don pauses for a second, "well, that you're a mermaid, but you're still my daughter, and I want to help you in whatever way that I can. I hope that from now on, you can feel like you can come and talk to me about anything. I would like to be in the loop," Don continues firmly.
"I love you too, Dad. No more secrets, I promise." Cleo sniffles, wiping away the couple of tears that had started to roll down her cheeks.
"Good." Don smiles as he pulls Cleo into a tight, comforting hug, hopelessly wishing that just this tiny action could help take all of the pain away. At least it seems to help Cleo a little, considering she happily accepts the hug and buries her head into Don's shoulder.
"Everything will be okay, honey. This will all work itself out somehow, I'm sure of it." Don tells his daughter quietly, and he doesn't feel like he is totally lying either. Some sort of gut instinct is almost confident that things are going to start getting better. Perhaps the revelation today will be the start of the turn around in events. Don certainly hopes so, anyway.
"I really hope you're right, Dad…" Cleo sighs sadly into Don's shoulder, sounding tired and defeated. Don continues to hold his daughter in a warm embrace, wishing that there was more that he could say or do to help Cleo feel better. Even with all of the new pieces of information, Don still feels just as helpless as he was before. He knows that the only thing that would make Cleo feel better is finding Lewis. If only the police could finally find a solid damn lead…
"You're not going to tell Emma or Rikki's parents about this, are you? Or Lewis' mum?" Cleo asks suddenly as she pulls out of the hug, staring at Don with wide eyes filled with concern.
"Do you want me to? Personally, it might be good to have more adults involved in this situation-"
"No! No. I mean, I'd rather you keep all of this stuff to yourself. I don't think Emma or Rikki would be very happy with another person knowing about us. Besides, we don't even know how their parents would react. It's too risky. If things go south, then we could all end up like Lewis." Cleo hurriedly interrupts. She sighs sadly, and Don doesn't miss it when Cleo glances down at her hands and fiddles with her jacket sleeves for a fraction of second when she mentions Lewis again; guilt and fear clearly running rampant within her once more.
"Okay. Even though this situation conflicts me, if not telling their parents is what you really think is best, then I'll keep quiet about it. Just as long as you let me know what's going on, okay?" Don says with a slight air of finality, happy to just leave the conversation here for the time being. Naturally, there will have to be more discussion about Cleo's mermaidness, but he thinks that they both have had enough for today.
It seems that Cleo agrees, as she glances up at Don and smiles, "Thanks, Dad, I really appreciate this. And I'll keep you informed on things from now on, I promise."